How do I fix a leaking bathtub faucet DIY without calling the plumber?

Question

Just a few days ago, I realized that my bathtub faucet was leaking water on the spout. The amount of water is not much but can be considered enough to cause me to worry. It is dripping water with tick tick noise. I could have ignored it as the water leak isn't dripping off the bathtub or getting into ceiling downstairs. I am not the kind of person to just ignore things and let things be as it is. I like to aim for perfection and if something needs repair in my house, I like to fix them as soon as I can.

Besides, I believe in Feng Shui which says that anything which needs repairs should be given attention and fixed. Otherwise this unrepaired things could cause disharmony in one's real life. In this case of water leak, it represents losing money constantly and you could feel like you aren't saving much money.

I don't want to call a plumber as I believe in learning things while doing any DIY. I can't afford to keep calling the professionals for repairs since I believe i could do it myself too. I feel it is a waste of money to call a professionals. Unless if it is something that needed heavy or expensive machinery to complete the DIY, then I would call the professionals. What is the easiest way to fix the bathtub water leaks?

Answer 1

There are some plumbing fix which you can do it yourself while there are some plumbing issues of more serious nature that is better left with the plumber professionals. A leaky bathtub faucet could be fixed DIY if you know a but about plumbing. It is all general knowledge and common sense and doesn't require you to have a PHD in plumbing.

1. Turn off your house main water supply. Then the  first thing to do is to look for the screws in front or at the side of the handle for shower tub faucet. Unscrew this screw.

2. Before removing any further parts of the shower handle, try to remember where all parts will go fit back when you have to reinstall them. Better yet, take a picture of how the parts were assembled. This will be important when you have to reinstall the parts.

3. The culprit for leaky bathtub faucet is usually the cartridge inside the bathtub faucet. Remove the cartridge and go get a new one. Some company such as Moen will have free lifetime cartridge replacement for a certain type of bathroom tub faucet. I had mine old cartridge replaced exchanged for free at my nearest RONA home improvement store.

4. Install the new cartridge into the bathroom tub faucet.

5. Put back the various plastic parts of the bathroom tub faucet.

6. Screw back the metal portion of the bathroom tub faucet.

7. Test for any water leak.

8. If the leak still occurs, there could be more serious plumbing issues and you will need to hire a plumber to check it out. Be sure that you have reinstalled the bathroom tub faucet properly or else you could have done more harm than a fix.

Answer 2

Watch video on "How to fix a MOEN shower tub faucet leak the quick easy way without calling your plumber":